Middle East Initiative

Jeffrey G. Karam is an assistant professor of political science and international affairs at the Lebanese American University. He is also a nonresident associate at Harvard University’s Middle East Initiative. Previously, Karam was a postdoctoral research fellow in the International Security Program at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. Karam’s research and teaching spans the subfields of international relations, international security, and U.S. foreign policy. He is currently finishing his first book on the politics of U.S. intelligence and foreign policymaking in the Middle East and is the author of several articles, book chapters, and policy briefs on U.S. intelligence and foreign policy in the Middle East. In this context, Karam has recently been analyzing the private papers of Emir Farid Chehab, the former director of Lebanon’s General Security Directorate (Sûreté Générale), and has written on the topic in the media. To discuss what he found, Diwan interviewed him in early October. He can be followed on Twitter: @JGKaram.

The difficulty of reaching global agreement on cyber norms is generally attributed to a bipolar division in cyber security governance, reflecting two opposing political systems and sets of values. On one hand, there is a group of what experts have called “likeminded” states. This group generally includes the United States and European countries, and it believes in an open and free internet driven largely by global market competition with some government regulation and civil society observation (known as multistakeholderism). The second group includes Iran, Russia, and China, and prioritizes state control over national “borders” in cyber space with strict governmental limits on content (known as cyber sovereignty.) These differences have been described as the cyber space element of a resurgent Cold War, in which neoliberal and democratic structures confront information control, authoritarianism, and rule-breaking.

On Sept. 6, 2018, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington D.C. announced the addition of nearly 1,900 files from the private archives of Emir Farid Chehab.

A panel discussion with Jacqueline Bhabha (FXB Center at HSPH), Sofia Kouvelaki (The Home Project, Athens), and Vidur Chopra (HGSE). Moderated by Melani Cammett (Harvard Government Department).

Co-sponsored by the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights and the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs.

A seminar with David Kirkpatrick, New York Times International Correspondent and Cairo Bureau Chief, 2011-2015, on his recent book Into the Hands of the Soldiers: Freedom and Chaos in Egypt and the Middle East (Viking, 2018).

A seminar with Daniel Corstange, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University. Moderated by Tarek Masoud, MEI Faculty Chair and Sultan of Oman Professor of International Relations, HKS.

The streets of Amman today appear calm and everyone seems to be going about their business as usual. But just two months ago, the country faced massive protests which mirrored others it had seen before. The script of the May-June events developed along the usual lines: public protests over price increases made the king dismiss the government, freeze price increases, name a new prime minister, and ask for fresh reforms.

Former MEI Postdoctoral Research Fellow Elizabeth R. Nugent receives APSA’s Comparative Democratization Best Paper Award and honorable mention in two other awards for the section.

On June 24, Turkey will go to early presidential and parliamentary polls. The snap elections come amidst significant macroeconomic turmoil. As fears persist over the strength of Turkey’s economy, what can be said about how the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has managed public resources since its arrival into power in 2002? Do patterns of government spending reflect development or economic needs or do political priorities largely dictate how budgets are allocated?

Throughout the 2000s, Turkey was portrayed as a model of social and economic success for other countries in the MENA region. Ahead of the country’s early presidential and parliamentary polls, this column reports research evidence on how the ruling Justice and Development Party has managed public resources and fostered local economic development since it took power in 2002. The government has played a substantial role in influencing local economic performance on a discretionary basis.